


Joined

by DownToTheSea



Series: His Nice and Accurate Materials [2]
Category: His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
Genre: Established Relationship, Everybody Lives, Fluff, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Mentioned Crowley/Aziraphale but they don't make an appearance, Post-Canon, Semi-Crossover?, brief homophobia mention, self-indulgence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-07
Updated: 2021-01-07
Packaged: 2021-03-17 19:13:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28605033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DownToTheSea/pseuds/DownToTheSea
Summary: Balthamos and Baruch discuss a particular human custom.
Relationships: Balthamos/Baruch
Series: His Nice and Accurate Materials [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2096061
Kudos: 6





	Joined

**Author's Note:**

> Doing a few little B/B prompts for a special occasion and one was for Balthamos proposing marriage (I ended up making this maybe a little more official/less casual than prompted haha but I couldn't resist.) Thank you Basil for the prompt, hope you enjoy!
> 
> You don't need to have read the first fic in the series to get this one! All you need to know is that A/C saved Balthamos and Baruch and now they're all angelic besties.

"My dear," Balthamos said one day, as they flew back from visiting their angelic and demonic friends. "I have been thinking."

"You usually are," Baruch said warmly. "But what is it that troubles you?" He could feel it through the mental bond, though  _ trouble  _ was perhaps the wrong word. Balthamos was nervous, yes, but there was an undercurrent of excitement.

"Aziraphale and Crowley," Balthamos said after a pause. "They're married."

Another pause, while Baruch fought to control his smile. He saw immediately where this was going, of course, but Balthamos seemed to want to do a slow, dramatic lead-in and Baruch would never ruin it for him.

"Of course it is a very common custom among humans, but I have never been human," Balthamos continued. "It never occurred to me before now that… well, that we might… I know we are already joined in mind and heart and, for all intents and purposes, we made our vows to each other a long time ago. But you  _ were  _ human, and… Tell me, my love, would it mean anything to you to partake in this ritual?"

"When I was human, I would have been forbidden from marrying you,” Baruch said softly. That was putting it lightly, but there was no reason to dwell on what was past. “I have never regretted the way things turned out, but at the same time, it is an old wrong that we could put right. And what about you?"

_ "Me?  _ I, well, I am not human. I cannot fathom why such things should hold any significance for me,” Balthamos stammered while flushing deeply, confirming every single one of Baruch's suspicions.

Baruch only looked at him, a grin spreading. “Can’t you?”

"Oh very well," Balthamos said, now flushing even more deeply. Baruch hadn't seen him this flustered in a long time. "I believe it was the rings, if you must know. Apparently they are very commonplace now in many worlds. Aziraphale let me research them in his shop, and then I began paying attention when we traveled…"

"And?" Baruch prompted, amused at the idea of Balthamos poring over manuscripts trying to parse the esoteric secrets of wedding rings.

"And… The idea of having a piece of you with me always, a physical piece that is, even when you are too far to feel your mind… it is very appealing. And we have been together in the angelic way for so long, it seems only fitting that we should choose a human way to celebrate it too. But you know, my heart, even without any justification at all I would leap at the chance to be connected to you in any way." His voice was melting, even as he struggled with his undignified composure.

"It's all right, Balthamos," Baruch said, smile going softer. "You know I feel the same. So: would you like to marry me?"

"Absolutely," Balthamos said at once. "Yes. Very much."

Baruch started laughing, more out of joy than amusement, though Balthamos's eagerness was truly adorable. "It strikes me," he said, "that we are running ahead of schedule. We have time to turn back and ask our friends for advice on how they went about procuring their wedding ceremony…"

"An excellent idea, my dear.” Balthamos beamed at him.

“Shall we let Aziraphale plan it? I believe he would like that,” Baruch said with a flash of mischief.

“Absolutely not.”


End file.
